Field Directors

Hi all, 

I just got out of a meeting with our legal team who is deciding whether or not they will allow paid practica. Their reasons were things such as what if the student gets hurt, what is the intention of the agency, etc. They wanted me to provide them with any information from CSWE given their justification for allowing paid practica. And they are looking for reasons beyond, "because it's the right thing to do." 

Does that kind of statement exist? Is there any statement beyond May 2022 that CSWE has put out? I did not find one. 

Thanks for any guidance. 

Courtney

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Courtney McDermott
Director of Field Education
School of Social Work
University of Missouri-St. Louis
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Hi Courtney,

Yes, CSWE released a statement in September of last year, which includes the following: "We continue to encourage practicum sites and universities to provide funding to social work students for their internships."

The full statement can be found here: https://www.cswe.org/news/newsroom/cswe-and-p4p-commit-to-addressing-accessibility/#:~:text=The%20Council%20on%20Social%20Work%20Education%20(CSWE)%20and%20Payment%20for,social%20work%20education%20more%20accessible.

Please let me know if there's anything else I can do to help.

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Natalie Beck Aguilera
Associate Professor and Practicum Director
St. Edward's University
Austin TX
512-448-8642
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Hi. No, CSWE does not have any justification or discussion of the "why" behind allowing for paid practica. Given that this is a practice nationally, maybe sharing some data regarding that would help your case.

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Jennifer Abeloff, MSW, MS
BSSW Program Coordinator and Associate Director
School of Social Work
Florida International University
Miami FL
305-348-1627
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Hi Courtney,

I do not have a CSWE statement to provide but I did want to share that when we place our students in a paid practicum, our community partners offer it as per diem, part-time, or full-time employment. They go through onboarding, employee orientation, etc.  We also have affiliate agreements in place which outline the university's liability insurance.  Perhaps it might work for your school/practicum sites if you can frame it like that?  The majority of our MSW students are in employment-based or paid practicums (we only have an MSW program so far).  

Good luck,

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Staci Fattore, LCSW
Field Education Director
Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ
fattore@rowan.edu
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